One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time,
Fats Navarro had a tragically brief career yet his influence is still being felt. His fat sound combined aspects of
Howard McGhee,
Roy Eldridge, and
Dizzy Gillespie, became the main inspiration for
Clifford Brown, and through
Brownie greatly affected the tones and styles of
Lee Morgan,
Freddie Hubbard, and
Woody Shaw.
Navarro originally played piano and tenor before switching to trumpet. He started gigging with dance bands when he was 17, was with
Andy Kirk during 1943-1944, and replaced
Dizzy Gillespie with the
Billy Eckstine big band during 1945-1946. During the next three years,
Fats was second to only
Dizzy among bop trumpeters.
Navarro recorded with
Kenny Clarke's Be Bop Boys,
Coleman Hawkins,
Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis,
Illinois Jacquet, and most significantly
Tadd Dameron during 1946-1947. He had short stints with the big bands of
Lionel Hampton and
Benny Goodman, continued working with
Dameron, made classic recordings with
Bud Powell (in a quintet with a young
Sonny Rollins) and
the Metronome All-Stars, and a 1950 Birdland appearance with
Charlie Parker was privately recorded. However,
Navarro was a heroin addict and that affliction certainly did not help him in what would be a fatal bout with tuberculosis that ended his life at age 26. He was well documented during the 1946-1949 period and most of his sessions are currently available on CD, but
Fats Navarro could have done so much more. ~ Scott Yanow